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Gaia
Gaia is the patron deity of most druids and some Elven races. Gaia worship is the oldest surviving religion, surviving even the death of Hellenism, the fabled religions of the old worlds. History Gaia, the oldest god among the pantheons on Aculon, is the spirit of the earth. Rather it is the spirit of the realm, and each such realms has an entity presiding over it. Gaia is an entity, a god, and an afterlife. Gaia's afterlife rests within the bask, in the realm of thoughts. Domain Gaia's domain is Gaia. It is a thick twisting forest akin to an ocean, with canopies that can stretch miles from the forest floor. The grounds are meters thick roots, often wide enough to be roads, and trees are thick pillars that hold up the roof of leafs. Gaia is an infinite domain, where all nature spirits go after they perish. The forest is full of peaceful creatures and dangerous monsters alike. Relations Gaia has been related to many of the Vanir races, as they too venerate nature spirits which have very similar practices to the worship of Gaia. According to the sagas, there is a spirit that accompanies each realm, although the inability to travel to other realms makes them hard to understand, but it's likely that all other physical realms, and maybe even all celestial realms have an entity that presides over it. It is known that the dragons recognize some sort of entity that embodies drekkinheim, and the fae an "old one" for the spirit of fanheim, but it is unknown if there is also one for Halfrheim, or even Jotunheim. Church Churches to Gaia are nature shrines, and sacred forest glades occupied by druids. The shrines are dedicated to the preservation of Gaia, which is all of the natural world. They are dedicated to preserving nature, which means stopping hunters, loggers, fishers etc from overdrawing from the land, or even drawing anything at all. Followers Elves were once the main follower of Gaia, but practice has declined. The high elves now believe in a higher realm of concious, and the spirit of magic rather than a nature spirit, while the Slovans simply find the concept of a deity outdated and unnecessary. The snow elves have become far removed from religion in their time of separation from the world, and their brief spell of mindless savagery. Only the wood elves remain devout followers of the religion. However. many beast races follow the religion on smaller levels. Essentially, druids are the main followers of the religion, and it has become less of a race based dogma, and simply a way of life that many races now partake in. Rituals Ritual of shaping: The construction of geometric shapes from sturdy pieces of nature, often sticks and twine, or grass roots. The constructions are left behind in the wilds to maintain, grow, or decay nature. Normally only higher levels are of druids and dryads are involved in this ritual. These places often grow to be places of power, and are strategically placed. '''Communion: '''One cannot speak to Gaia as they could speak to other gods. Instead, the act of communion is communicating with the natural world. Communion is a meditation that lasts for as long as the meditator can maintain the ritual. It consists of sitting, or standing, or floating, and maintaining a state of emptiness. The goal is to absorb nature in its entirety by shutting off the conscious mind, and every meditation session should strive to feel something new. Great druids can meditate for years, until they literally turn to stone. '''Ritual of Centering: '''Offering items to Gaia does little, unlike other pantheons. Offerings are given not to appease a god, but as material components to help manipulate nature. These items are often of varying nature and vary depending on the effect desired. The ritual is also used to maintain the welfare of the spirit and maintain ones axis alignment. '''Ritual of Gates: '''The ritual of gates is the attempt to open a portal into Gaias realm. The ritual is conducted by making circles of sticks, or lines in the dirt, and channeling pure nature through the symbolic portal created. For most young dryads and druid, the goal is not to open an elf gate to Gaia, but rather create a portal for life energy to trickle out of. The practice has the same effect as digging a well. '''Wood Elf The Wild Hunt: '''A ritual that only occurs once every century, and deeply inspired by fey aspects. It is common wood elf practice to ritual cannibalism. It is done out of respect, or hatred depending, and done to gain power or understanding. Not at all unlike old Geron rituals. The ritual consumption of meat is common in wood elf practice, especially after a successful hunt, but the wild hunt is a sacred exception.